Women are too short, weak to protect someone like Donald Trump: U.S. right criticises Secret Service’s ‘woke’ hiring
The Hindu
Conservatives criticize Secret Service for hiring women agents who protected Trump during assassination attempt, sparking DEI debate.
As questions swirl over how a would-be assassin managed to get anywhere near Donald Trump, some conservatives are blaming the Secret Service for hiring the women agents who threw themselves into the line of fire to protect the former president.
Women are too short, too weak — and in some cases, too overweight — to protect someone like Trump, according to people on the U.S. political right who accused the Secret Service of "woke" hiring practices they say nearly got the former president killed.
Several women can be seen among the black-suited, sunglass-clad agents racing to shield Trump with their bodies as the gunman opened fire at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, before hustling him from the stage and into a waiting car and safety.
But they, along with their boss Kimberly Cheatle — only the second-ever woman director of the federal agency tasked with protecting presidents current, former and would-be — are now caught in the intense scrutiny over the nearly catastrophic attack.
"There should not be any women in the Secret Service. These are supposed to be the very best, and none of the very best at this job are women," right-wing activist Matt Walsh wrote on X, in one typical post.
"I can't imagine that a DEI hire from @pepsi would be a bad choice as the head of the Secret Service. #sarcasm," tweeted Republican congressman Tim Burchett.
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